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Forum -> Chinuch, Education & Schooling
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik's view on secular studies



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mp




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Feb 03 2005, 4:24 pm
Another opinion...
Quote:
We believe that the Jewish child is capable of carrying a double load, the universal secular and the specific Judaic. We believe that the child is able to study and comprehend two systems of knowledge and to excel in both.

Some people deny this. The Jewish child, they say, has to choose between being a literate Jew and a literate human being. Literacy in both realms is an absurdity, they say. We reject this philosophy of doom. We say that the Jewish child is teachable and educable in both fields and at the same time. Not only literacy but even scholarship in both is attainable.

The philosophical reasoning responsible for this optimism concerning the compatibility of the sacred with the mundane, the religious with the secular, is rooted in the thought that Judaism has never distinguished between these allegedly two areas of being.
Public Lecture, November 15, 1971
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Motek




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Feb 03 2005, 4:57 pm
Quote:
We believe that the Jewish child is capable of carrying a double load, the universal secular and the specific Judaic. We believe that the child is able to study and comprehend two systems of knowledge and to excel in both.


We all know that Jews who attend yeshivos do fine on the achievement tests, Regents, SAT's, etc. and enter the finest colleges

I don't understand the connection between the first two paragraphs and the third.
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mp




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Feb 03 2005, 5:01 pm
I would guess that he is not discussing whether they can handle it cognitively but rather morally and spiritually.
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yehudis




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Feb 03 2005, 10:20 pm
What's the context? Does he explain how the religious and the secular are compatible?
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zuncompany




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Feb 03 2005, 10:28 pm
Motek wrote:
We all know that Jews who attend yeshivos do fine on the achievement tests, Regents, SAT's, etc. and enter the finest colleges


Not all of them do... the ones who do not have an english studies background do not at all. You need to know the language and know how to do more than add and subtract to be able to do well on those tests and get into a good college.

The people who do well on them are the ones who also have strong secular education.

sara
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ForeverYoung

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Post Fri, Feb 04 2005, 8:59 am
mp, interesting info, thanx

a question:

where did you get it &
is it possible to post the entire speech?
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mp




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Feb 04 2005, 11:29 am
I got the quote from www.rav.org
I think that you can buy books with more of his philosophy but I am not sure if you can get the full quote off the website.

Yehudis - I don't know the answer. However, the idea that the secular and religious need not be presented as a dichotomy is a common one in Judaism. Even in chassidus, you often hear about how the point of this world is to infuse the secular with spirituality. But I'm sure people will now begin posting about how I just twist chassidus to suit my own needs.
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Motek




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Feb 04 2005, 11:40 am
mp wrote:
But I'm sure people will now begin posting about how I just twist chassidus to suit my own needs.


or that you don't understand chasidus Wink

Quote:
Not all of them do...


as a group, the majority of frum B.Y. and yeshiva high school grads in N.Y. (where there are Regents) do exceedingly well. And the boys manage this despite learning limudei kodesh until mid-afternoon and having 3 hours or so of limudei chol at the end of the day
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ForeverYoung

Guest


 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 06 2005, 4:42 pm
I know a family w/ stomuch problems -
the sons study for regents while in the bathroom
lol
we know regents are coming if they've got review books in thr bathrooms
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